Some analysts see this as a move to the left, playing to his Democratic base.

In fact, this is a move to the American center. Just consider the core values at issue here: liberty, claimed by the right as their most cherished principle, and equality and social justice so dear to the left. At the end of the day, we are talking about the freedom of two consenting adults to enjoy the same equal rights as everyone else to marry and use the word "marriage" legally, regardless of their minority group. So liberty and equality are both at issue.

Religious taboos and prejudices aside, in terms of political values, this falls smack in the middle.

In this respect, same-sex marriage is much like the more severe issues of slavery and civil rights, in that, what was at stake at the heart of those issue too, were the core American values of both liberty and equality.

Now, obviously slavery and the wide-spread suppression of civil rights for a large minority appear far more violent and heinous abuses, harming far more people in a more bloody and pervasively damaging manner, than the denial of just one set of rights – marriage equality – to a small minority. But the principles and dynamics are similar.

Like same-sex marriage, slavery and civil rights were both highly contentious issues at the time they came to a head (1860's and 1960's respectively). In each case, Christians were vocal leaders on both sides, with the distinction that reforms were opposed by traditionalists who looked to the Bible and past social traditions of inequality to support slavery and bigotry, while reformers similarly looked to the Bible, but also, most importantly, to the message of freedom and equality in the Declaration of Independence to support their cause.

Despite the violent controversy, within just a few years after each crisis, the center of American opinion had entirely shifted to a new consensus on these issues. The center shifted so quickly for one simple reason: the new consensus in each case (anti-slavery and pro civil rights) was indeed entirely in line with the basic values of the Declaration of Independence: freedom, equality, humanity, justice.

Same-sex marriage is also entirely in line with these basic values from the Declaration of Independence, the ur-text proclaiming core American principles. Christians are on both sides of this issue as well. Again, it is also opposed by the same kind of traditionalists, who look mainly only to the Bible and social traditions to support the notion that some folks are inferior, and do not deserve equal rights. Here too, the reformers look both to the Bible and the Declaration of Independence in support of the equal freedom to marry.

By taking a stand for FULL freedom of marriage equality for same-sex couples, not just the neo-equality of civil unions, Obama has just stepped away completely from the forces that oppose freedom and equality for minorities, and placed himself squarely in line with the founding fathers, Lincoln and Martin Luther King in advocating the extension of freedom and equality even to small, historically despised minorities. That is right at the center of American values.

Further, he has done so in nuanced way that fully respects the principles of Federalism and religious liberty. In an email yesterday, he fleshed out his new position a bit more:

"I respect the beliefs of others, and the right of religious institutions to act in accordance with their own doctrines. But I believe that in the eyes of the law, all Americans should be treated equally. And where states enact same-sex marriage, no federal act should invalidate them."

So Obama is not proposing a federal law creating federal gay marriage, which would be an overreach, but merely respecting the rights of states to decide the issue without being overridden by the federal government. That is, in fact, a more moderate, federalist position – clearly more in line with the wishes of the founding fathers – than the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act" which rides roughshod over states rights.

Too bad however, he does not do this, for real, more often. Too often Obama's policies do not balance American core values, but rather push equality, humanity and social justice at the expense of liberty. Republicans often do the exact opposite. Both would do well to craft new policy options (such as Green Energy Tax Cuts or Pro Bono Health Care Reform) that balance and promote liberty, humanity and equality all at once, without sacrificing one for the other.

During its short history, the United States has faced four major political showdowns over the question of individual rights where liberty and equality were both at stake: the American Revolution, the Civil War, the Suffragette and the Civil Rights movements. In each of these cases, forces that favored traditions opposed the logical extension of core American values were soundly trounced, shown the door and ultimately rejected as essentially un-American. This next showdown, over the equal freedom to marry, tho' on a smaller, less violent scale, is not going to be any different.